Construction and maintenance projects in a hospital provide great potential for releasing contaminants and airborne particulates that can lead to infections or other forms of contamination. All buildings, including hospitals harbor biological pathogens in the cavities of walls, floors and ceilings. Whenever these cavities are penetrated and the air in them is disturbed, the risk of aerosolizing these pathogens is high. There are always air currents in these cavities, even those that are considered dead air spaces. When an opening is made, the air currents change and pathogens are introduced into the occupied space.
Routine maintenance and repair activities such as opening a ceiling tile or a wall to check or test equipment for elevator operation, electrical wiring, pneumatic tube systems, plumbing or air conditioning can release harmful organisms into the environment.
An infectious containment and environmental monitoring program must be established to eliminate or minimize the incidence of infectious particulates, dust, and other airborne particulates associated with construction and repair projects in healthcare facilities and other clean room type environments. Every organization must assess the level of protection needed for the various construction, repair, replacement, and maintenance activities that will be undertaken in the facility. This assessment allows the facility to tailor the level of protection to its specific needs. In addition to having an application in hospital environments, the present invention is also highly useful and applicable for applications in such areas as asbestos removal and removal of other possible airborne contaminants in many other types of facilities.
Various types of enclosures have been provided in the past for isolating a work area from the surrounding environment. An example of an isolation enclosure is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558.112. This patent discloses a portable isolation enclosure apparatus for removing material from the walls of a building while isolating a portion of the wall from which the material is being removed. The apparatus is positioned against a wall such that an area of the wall is isolated from the ambient environment, and is disposed with the open side of the enclosure facing the wall such that a worker inside the enclosure can access the wall.
In Reissue 33,810 an isolation enclosure is provided for removing asbestos material from ceilings and other elevated asbestos containing structures. The enclosure includes a booth and an adjustable plenum for being raised and lowered relative to the booth to reach the heights of different ceilings. A curtain is provided which extends from the bottom of the plenum below the top of the booth to maintain a closed environment. The enclosure is provided with vacuum and ventilation systems for filtering and ventilating the air which is drawn into the enclosure.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,448, an enclosure is provided for working on ceiling openings. The apparatus provides an enclosure extending from the floor to the ceiling and enabling access through a ceiling opening for above ceiling construction and/or repair while providing a isolated enclosure for preventing pathogens, dust, asbestos and other debris from being allowed to escape into the surrounding environment. Another example of a prior art enclosure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,871.